Plug pulled on Longannet power station as closure date is confirmed

Chris McCall

Longannet power station in Fife will close in March 2016, it was confirmed this morning.

Operators Scottish Power revealed the future of the plant was in doubt earlier this year following National Grid’s decision not to award the station a contract for grid balancing services.

The coal-powered station, the last of its kind in Scotland, will close on March 31.

It directly employs 236 staff.

Neil Clitheroe, CEO of retail and generation at Scottish Power, said: “This is a sad day for Scottish Power, and for our highly-skilled and committed team at Longannet.

“We have explored every potential option to keep the station open, and we still maintain that Longannet could continue generating in to the next decade under the right economic conditions.”

“Our main focus now is consulting with staff to ensure we find the best outcomes possible for all of the 236 impacted employees, many of whom have spent their entire career at the station.

“We would like to thank everyone at the station for their professionalism and continued commitment, and we know that the last few months have been very difficult. We will work hard with every person at Longannet to try to find the best outcome for them, whether it is finding another role in ScottishPower or leaving the company.”

Scottish Power also confirmed that it would not be progressing with the development of a CCGT plant at Cockenzie due to the same economic conditions affecting all thermal plants in Scotland.